On agricultural land in Hawaii and elsewhere, water lines for irrigation are laid out upon the land or just under the surface of the ground in the vicinity of a house or agricultural buildings. Brush fires are common hazzards to housing and such buildings, yet there is no hydrant to supply water in case of a fire. To alleviate this problem, and others which will become apparent from the disclosure which follows, the present invention, a water tapping device, conveniently couples an outlet end of a pressurized waterline to a water regulator while allowing water to flow freely from the outlet end.
The water tapping device comprises a first end with an inlet opening surrounded by a compression receiver operably connected to a shut-off valve that has a hose or nozzle fitting on its discharge end. The compression receiver or coupler has a moveable securing collar on one end and a stationary pipe section joined to the shut-off valve on the other end. Each of the moveable collar and the stationary pipe section has a radially extending handle that when moved to rotate the collar relative to the stationary pipe section can either tighten or loosen the collar to engage or disengage the pressurized line to the water tapping device.
Under hazardous circumstances, a user can cut one of the irrigation water lines at some safe distance from the fire and connect the pressurized end of the cut line to the water tapping device while water is being discharged from said line. This can be done by leaving the shut-off valve open while the compression fitting is tightened. When the watertap is safely secured to the pressurized line, the shut-off valve is closed to allow an appropriately sized secondary line or hose to be connected to the hose fitting on the discharge end of the watertap. Whereupon, the shut-off valve can be opened to allow water to pass through the water tapping device and the secondary hose to fight the fire.
Alternative technology is available in the form of U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,728 issued to Maichel in 1998 for a valve insertion method and assembly for inserting a valve in a line which comprises a method of cutting into a pressurized tube and adding a valve to the tube while pressure is still on the pipe. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,528 issued in 1987 to Nishio et al. for a butterfly valve which discloses the use of a lever actuated valve to allow or deny the flow of a liquid through the valve.
The principal disadvantage of such devices is their cost and the need for an integral clamping means. Moreover, since here we are dealing with a flexible waterline there is no need for a circumferential cutting means.
Furthermore, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,872 issued in 1985 to Holman for an emergency firehose switchover device for wells and the like which discloses a method and device to change the water flow of a well type water source to allow access to supply water to a fire hose.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,459 issued to Morgan in 1995 for a compression fitting for rods, tubes and pipes showing cooperating first and second members. The first member has a circumferential groove which reduces in depth from one end of the groove to the other and the second member is adapted to be located in said groove and to be movable relative thereto and comprising an elongated tapered wedge formed into at least part of a helical coil, whereby relative rotation between said first member and said wedge member establishes a compression fitting to be tightened onto a receiving member.
Also see U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,619 issued in 1991 to Zheng which discloses the use of compression fittings for a valve and nozzle; the valve is a lever actuated bypass valve and the nozzle has a nipple connection outlet to connect the tube or hose. This device is not designed to be installed on a pressurized line.
The citation of the foregoing publications is not an admission that any particular publication constitutes prior art, or that any publication alone or in conjunction with others, renders unpatentable any pending claim of the present application. None of the cited publications is believed to detract from the patentability of the claimed invention.
Unlike the foregoing devices which teach structures unique to their respective fields of application, the instant invention is ideal for smaller diameter irrigation hoses used in Hawaii and elsewhere. These hoses can be conveniently cut with a cutting instrument such as a knife and the pressurized end can be augmented with an apparatus for coupling an outlet end of a pressurized waterline to a water regulator while allowing water to flow freely from said outlet end. The invention teaches the ability to create a controllable fire fighting water source that can be positioned anywhere along the waterline and controlled locally. Moreover, the apparatus can seal off the outlet end of the pressurized waterline.
The collar preferably has an outwardly extending handle which facilitates rotating the collar to threadingly secure the collar to the coupler, mounting of the collar around the waterline, and stabilizing the waterline for insertion in to the coupler. Also preferred is that the coupler has an outwardly extending arm, so that a user by engaging the handle and the arm can rotate the collar relative to the coupler to threadedly connect the secondary end of the collar to the proximal end of the coupler.
Additionally, the waterline contemplated for use with this important invention does not require any inherent variations in its smooth outer surface to effectuate the coupling.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
Still other advantages will be apparent from the disclosure that follows.
The invention relates to an apparatus and method for coupling an outlet end of a pressurized waterline to a water regulator while allowing water to flow freely from the outlet end comprising an elongated coupler, a collar, and means for securing the waterline to the coupler and collar.
The elongated coupler has a proximal end, a distal end, and a cavity extending from the proximal end to the distal end. The proximal end has a proximal external threaded section proximate thereto. The distal end has a distal external threaded section which extends from the distal end for receiving a water regulator. The collar has a primary end and a secondary end with a recess extending from the primary end to the secondary end. The recess has an internal threaded section proximate to the secondary end. The internal threaded section is adapted for engagement to the proximal external threaded section of the coupler and the recess is suitably sized to receive the outlet end of a pressurized waterline.
The outlet end of a pressurized waterline can be received in to the recess through the primary end of the collar. The collar can be threadedly connected to the proximal end of the coupler to secure the waterline to the coupler and collar by the means for securing, and the distal external threaded section of the coupler can be threadedly connected to a water regulator having an open-flow orientation to allow the pressurized waterline to be coupled to a water regulator while allowing water to flow freely from the outlet end of the waterline.
The collar has an outwardly extending handle and the coupler has an outwardly extending arm, whereby a user by engaging the handle and the arm can rotate the collar relative to the coupler to threadedly connect the secondary end of the collar to the proximal end of the coupler.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.